Yesterday, we discussed the need to identify the root cause of the pain an agent may be experiencing.

For example, if an agent is unable to get listings, there’s a reason why.

Productive hiring managers know this and work to help the prospect discover these underlying causes.

Once an agent sees the problem, they’re much more likely to let you come alongside and help them fix it.

This is the best kind of recruiting because struggling agents crave this kind of leadership.

So, how do you get to these underlying causes?

You can start by asking some probing, open-ended questions, but this can start to feel like an inquisition if it goes on too long.

It’s better to let the prospect self-discover.

And it’s one of the reasons we recommend using a gap analysis during the early stages of the recruiting process.

Here is a gap analysis you can start with for your recruiting prospects:

Gap Analysis

You can introduce this self-discovery process to a prospect with a dialog like this:

We’ve discussed some areas where you’d like to see your business grow.

Would you be willing to do a quick exercise I do with our agents to identify some specific ideas that could help you make improvements?  

It will just take a few minutes…

Connecting the desired outcome to a root cause helps you earn the right to be their coach.

Once this connection is established, the rest of the recruiting process flows downhill.